A network interface device (NID) installed at a home or business serves as an interface between a service provider network and the telephones, facsimile machines and other customer premises equipment within the home or business. The NID generally includes a customer-accessible bridge which connects the customer premises equipment to the network via the service provider communication lines. The NID also typically provides termination points for the communication lines from the customer and the service provider, as well as electrical protection in accordance with applicable code requirements.
In conventional NIDs, the discrete bridges, terminations, electrical protection units and other internal components are usually wired together manually by either the manufacturer or installer. This unduly increases the complexity and cost associated with manufacturing, installing, servicing and replacing the NID, while also significantly reducing its reliability. In addition, the conventional manually-wired NID is difficult to adapt to variations in customer line requirements. For example, it is a labor-intensive process to add or remove individual line interfaces from an existing conventional NID. As a result, it may be necessary to replace an otherwise workable NID simply because the customer requirements change. Furthermore, the conventional NID architecture is not readily adaptable for use in increasingly important applications such as fixed wireless installations, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and other types of broadband, high speed data access applications.
A need therefore exists for an improved NID which avoids the problems associated with conventional manually-wired NIDs and has a flexible architecture which can accommodate the line requirements of fixed wireless installations, high speed data and other important applications.